Tuesday, October 20, 2009

New First Church Website/Blog Location

First UMC Carrollton just launched a new website on Monday. Go check it out: www.firstchurch.net.

This blog will now be available as a part of that site, along with other blogs and updates connected with our church. The blog can be found at www.firstchurch.net/missionsblog. I will probably continue to post here for a little while, but may eventually switch over to only posting there.

Thanks!

Abbey

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Local Volunteer Opportunities

Below is a letter I received from a volunteer coordinator at World Impact Ministries in Dallas. Groups from our church have volunteered with them several times and we are big believers in what they are doing. Check out their website for more information about them.

Please let me know if there is anything on this list that you would like to help with, and I will be sure to connect you with the people at WID.

Upcoming WID Events


October 23-24th: Jr. High Girls Night

Last year we had 30 girls come to this event. We need Godly women to come serve and build relationships for this night, as it is vital to our ministry. Most of the girls we meet at the Jr. High School will never come to our Wednesday night Bible Study...until they have gone to a girl's night!

This event starts at 5pm on Friday and goes until 9am on Saturday. The location is the women's missionary house at 2729 South Blvd, Dallas, TX. We will need help with purchasing drinks, food, and crafts. As it will be a slumber party, we will be tye-dying pillowcases. Also, we need volunteers to help oversee activities and help prepare food. Please contact Amanda Sherrill atasherrill@worldimpact.org if you are interested.


October 31st : Youth Scavenger Hunt

Every year we partner with Interfaith Ministries and provide an alternative to Halloween. With over 60 kids attending, we will need your help! Starting in the afternoon, we will have 3-4 different teams going on a scavenger hunt across DFW. After hours of fun, we come back to the World Impact Ministry Center for food, games, and fellowship. We will need help in the following areas:

  • Donating food
  • Decorating our Ministry Center and setting up tables w/food
  • Attending the scavenger hunt by being a team leader
  • Preparing the scavenger hunt (Contact Amanda or Glen A.S.A.P)
  • Preparing games

As this event is still in the preparation stages, please contact Amanda Sherrill at asherrill@worldimpact.org, or Glen Banks at gbanks@worldimpact.org if you are interested.

November 6th,7th: Garage Sale

In order to raise funds for the ministry, we are having a garage sale at the women’s missionary house (2729 South Blvd, Dallas, TX 75215). Volunteers are needed to prepare and help oversee the garage sale. This would be a great event to get your small group involved in for a service project! The garage sale will run from 8am-1pm Saturday, November 7th. However, we will need assistance the day before in organizing, labeling, and moving items from the World Impact Ministry Center to the women’s missionary house. So if you cannot make it Saturday, please come anytime Friday to help! For more information, contact Amanda Sherrill at asherrill@worldimpact.org

December 12th: Christmas Shoppe!

Look out for the flyer coming soon! Every year WID partners with local churches to make Christmas shopping for the families in our community easier. Save the date, and keep a watch for more information in the upcoming weeks! Please contact Glen Banks at gbanks@worldimpact.org for more information.


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        But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

      -2 Corinthians 8:11-12

Monday, October 5, 2009

Diana Drake's Memories from the Colombia Trip


About 2 months ago I went on an amazing trip to Bogota, Colombia with a group from our church. We got to work with a wonderful group of missionaries from YWAM (Youth with a Mission) who live and work in the Bogota area. It was also really neat to actually work in the building that our church helped pay for through the Bigfoot Comedy night fundraiser last year. The building is used as a play center where the street kids in the YWAM program can come to have fun. We got to add some great play areas in that building, like a rope bridge, a texture wall, hammocks to climb on, a basketball court, and we fixed the rock climbing wall. Also, we got to go out and visit some of the schools and drop-in centers that YWAM helps run for the street kids. It was truly incredible to get to be with these kids, both in the centers and on the streets, and experience a small part of what life is like for them there.

I’ve been on short-term mission trips before, and there are always lessons learned and experiences you take from them. For me, there were several experiences that I know will stay with me for a long time to come. One was seeing a perfect rainbow in the mist over the city of Bogota, a reminder to me that there is beauty in the world even in the most unexpected places. The streets of Bogota are often filled with trash, and the homeless are everywhere, living where they can and struggling to survive. Seeing the incredible poverty, I couldn’t help but compare it to the way we live here at home. We have clean streets, safe homes, and an abundance of food and possessions. We are so blessed, but I know that I was reminded that we must never take that for granted, or think that we somehow deserve the blessings God has given us. We are blessed so that we may bless others. I know that it is good for me to be reminded of that, and to keep a sense of perspective in my life and a sense of gratitude for all God has given me.

For me, the most memorable experiences in Bogota were when we got to meet the children. Each day we visited a different school, so we only got to spend an hour or two with most of the children, then say goodbye. I wasn’t sure what kind of impact we could have in such a short amount of time. However, what we got to represent was simply the love of God for those kids. We were there to smile and hug and show them that somebody cares. And they showed us the same. We helped them make a beaded cross necklace, with each color bead representing part of the salvation message. Hopefully these crosses will remind them of God’s love for them always. These children had so little, yet they were able to laugh and smile and show love. We, who have so much, should certainly be able to do the same.

Going to Colombia was an amazing experience, and I hope to be able to go back sometime soon.


Diana Drake

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Update letter from the Scarbroughs

August 12, 2009

Hello family and friends.

Summer is almost over and we have been enjoying the warmth that it brings to Minnesota. We have a lot to share with you since our last newsletter. First, please know we appreciate the time that you take to read this letter. We are so blessed to be able to share with you what the Lord is doing in our lives, and in the YWAM Ministry that you are a part of.

This first half of the year has been very busy for us at YWAM-Minneapolis. We sent three teams on missions: the first to Colombia, another to the Amazon region of Peru, and the third to Ecuador. In the most recent Discipleship Training School, we had 8 students, including two from Korea and one from Spain.

The YWAM-Minneapolis campus is prepared for summer Mission Adventures teams. This summer, we are hosting 20 youth groups, and sending them to minister in the South Dakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Panama, Minneapolis, and Galveston, Texas, and Haiti.

Rebeca has taken over the management of our large, commercial-style kitchen, cooking for 38 people most days of the week, and 150 a day when we have youth groups on campus. She is now a Minnesota Licensed Kitchen Manager. Rebeca prepares the menu, orders the food, and trains staff and students on her team. She wants to provide excellent food service to all of the YWAM-Minneapolis staff and students. Rebeca knows how hard it is on outreach missions, and she wants to bless the staff and students with tasty, high-quality nutrition while they are studying and doing practical work here.

John is continuing development of energy-saving strategies to be used on YWAM bases around the world. As YWAM reduces utility bills, it gives more money to our primary mission of taking the Gospel to the nations. Here, our current goal is to reduce energy cost by an additional $30,000 to $40,000 or 33% a year. I believe that the Lord has given me special skills in energy-use efficiency. I am working to make our campus a model, where my team and I can help other YWAM campuses achieve the same efficiencies. I really want to see it happen: Increasing YWAM resources to share Jesus' love, making disciples of the Nations according to the Great Commission.

We would like to share something special with you. Rebeca's mother died in Tedzidz, Mexico at the end of December. Her mom had been living for the last 10 years with liver disease. The doctors attributed the problem to her lack of nutrients while carrying and birthing 11 children. Due to the lack of correct food, and lack of education about health matters, it is a common problem in the little towns of Mexico like Tedzidz. On December 15, 2008, the call came that it was looking like Rebeca's mother was in her final hours. We got right to work at trying to get Rebeca down there. Due to the coming Christmas holiday, it proved impossible - all flights were full. We got a call on December 16th that Rebeca's mother had been calling for Rebeca all night, saying she really wanted to see Rebeca before she died. Rebeca talked to the doctor later that day, and he told Rebeca the end was just hours away: Mama had slipped into a coma. Rebeca called every few hours to see how things were going.

When Rebeca called the next morning to check in, she got some incredible news. Mom was up and eating, she told everyone that she was not going yet!!! Rebeca listened as her brother told her what had happened the night before. He said he had been up all night praying with Mama. He did not know everything that was going on, but he continued to pray in the Spirit all night for his mom. He did not know the significance of what he was praying until his mother woke up, and told him "where" she had been. She said she had been to the entry of Heaven where she saw 2 very tall people with the most beautiful faces she had ever seen. One of the "people" spoke to her and told her to wait. He said, "We are not sure we are ready for you yet, we may send you back." And, as she looked through the "Gate" she saw a lot of people in white robes around a person sitting in a huge chair. Mother was told by one of the men at the gate that the person on the throne wanted to speak with her. Then, she saw herself in front of the chair; He spoke to her and said, "Today is not your day, but your time is very near. I want you to go back to your house and testify to your family, your church, your town, and everyone who has ears to hear, I am the Lord God, and that I am Real. Give testimony of what you have seen. Tell them I can make the sick well; I can raise the dead. Now go!"

Rebeca's mother never saw the face of the One on the throne; she only saw a very bright light. His voice was sweet and loud at the same time, and very pleasant to the ears. Rebeca's mother was also told that soon would be her time, and when the Lord calls the next time, it will be quick and painless.

Rebeca's mother enjoyed 5 more days of life. She spent that time preaching on the front porch of her house, in her church, and spoke to each of her children one at a time. She spoke with Rebeca for hours at a time on the phone, and also enjoyed just sitting close with Rebeca's father. Rebeca's siblings told her it was like Mom and Dad were dating. After this, many people became Christians, and were encouraged by the amazing testimony. She showed many that God is real, and he is waiting for us to finish our race well.

On December 22, 2008 at 2pm mother sat down for her final time and asked if Rebeca had made it yet. She was told, "No mother, Rebeca is not able to make it." She said: "Very well, it is time for me to go. They are coming for me. I will see you there! Can you see them?" At that she closed her eyes and was gone.

Rebeca's mother is now with the Lord.

Please keep us in your prayers, especially for Rebeca, who is still processing this huge loss, knowing we will all see each other in Heaven again. Praise the Mighty Name of JESUS!!!!

Maria Antonia Ku Cel 1935-2008

John and Rebeca

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Update from Adrienne Mickler

September 2009


I am rich.

You are rich too.

For whatever reason, this has become a label that most of us, including myself, strongly dislike. We rarely, if ever, claim that we are indeed rich [in the economic sense], but we are. We have a tremendous and delicate responsibility to distribute these resources to those without, in a fashion that preserves people’s dignity.

The manner and attitude in which we contend for others speaks more than we may realize. It is far more complex than simply giving out a piece of bread. It is discovering a way in which the relationship can be symbiotic, where both parties can give and receive. Otherwise, despite our good intentions, the relationship becomes hierarchical: those who “have” are at the top, and those who “have not” are at the bottom. This is not how it is meant to be. “Love your neighbor as yourself” implies equality.

Upon acknowledging this responsibility, I often feel a deep, overwhelming sense of guilt. I go, I give, and I serve out of this sentiment. I have learned that living with this guilt mentality is destructive and frequently results in feelings of resentment, bitterness, burn out, etc. I must go and give and serve because that is my heart’s desire.

I believe we are created to use our desires for the cause of Christ and for other people. If we are not living out of these deep places of longing, then of course we will feel a degree of exhaustion. If we are created to function in one capacity but choose to live from something else, we are neglecting a fundamental piece of who we are and thus live a life unfulfilled.

When we begin living against our heart’s desires, we start to compartmentalize “ministry”. It is no longer our life, but simply a part. This has become a very common way to ease our consciences. As long as we are doing “ministry” a few times a week, we’re good. But no, we still aren’t living the life we were intended to live and if we are honest with ourselves, we still long for more.

During these next six weeks, the “imagining posture”, we will be looking even deeper into these issues: living out our responsibility with God, gaining a clear sense and pursuit of our personal calling, and exploring and innovating different ways to be communities of faith. We will read Acts and Revelation in the Bible and other notable texts, as always.

Please continue to pray that I would stay focused, particularly at this stage of the year. There have been a plethora of external issues vying for my attention (eg. I miss Ryan!). But I believe that especially now, during the climax of the year, I must remain attuned to God’s promptings.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.


With Love,

Adrienne

Thursday, July 23, 2009

2009 Trip Summary

El Paso:

October
This trip has its first informational meeting Sunday, August 2, after church in the library. Exact dates will be decided by the group. Ministry will be to the physically and spiritually poor of this region through volunteering with several homeless shelters and community centers. This will be a short trip - about 4 days - and inexpensive - airfare plus $100 for ministry expense. No heavy construction involved. Contact Susan Sublett at sublettfamily@gmail.com.

Aurich, Germany

July 24-August 2
Please be in prayer for this group as they spread the gospel through baseball.

Nigeria

Early November
With Scott and Shirley Grigsby

Quito, Ecuador

First week of December
Karen and Sam Pedersen will be heading back to Ecuador to be a part of "Christmas at the Dump". Contact Sam or Karen at samnkaren@verizon.net. Cost: $2,000

Bogota, Colombia

August 8-15
Tickets have been purchased for this group but if you are interested contact Robyn Patzig at rpatzig@sbcglobal.net. Cost: $1,100

Cambodia

September 24-October 3
Tickets have been purchased for this trip, but we will head back next summer. We ask that you all be in prayer as we take the next step since adopting the Khmer people as our Unreached People Group.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Update from Adrienne Mickler

July 2009


Aunt Esther. She sits sideways in her big chair, smelling of alcohol, legs propped up on the arm, short white hairs poke out the sides of her lime green knitted hat as she carefully raises the floral porcelain teacup towards her mouth with fragile shaking hands. She is an adorable, elderly Afrikaner lady who is quite witty, despite the fact that she is nearly deaf and blind. When speaking with her, one must sit uncomfortably close and speak at a painfully loud volume. She has her door open from 4am until late at night, even during the colder winter months, for the sole purpose of being able to greet and be greeted by the strangers who happen to walk by. She feels forgotten and alone, and perhaps rightly so. Her family rarely visits and all her friends have passed away. I met her by accident several months ago and have been visiting her weekly ever since. She does not ever remember my name but she knows me as one of the girls that stop by on Thursday mornings for tea and conversation. She is teaching me the powerful value of being present. She cares little about what I could do for her and repeatedly expresses her gratitude for just being with her. She has taught me that my time is the most valuable gift I will ever have to offer.

“Hospitality is Resistance.” (from a book we just finished titled, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, by Christine D. Pohl) This is Christian hospitality: one that welcomes “the least”, which recognizes their equal value, and respects their dignity; one that goes against the hospitality that invites only those with whom we are comfortable. If we are truly welcoming people we must, again, be present and invite in the fashion that Jesus did: sitting side-by-side, face-to-face, engaging in equal relationship with everyone, especially those whom the world labels as inferior. I do not mean to say that if you are not considered lesser then you cannot receive the fruits of someone else's hospitality. But I would like to challenge us to remember those for whom hospitality was originally intended. True hospitality was meant to be a manner in which to care for the marginal groups in society; not as a means of entertaining the elite. I highly recommend reading Making Room. It addresses all the practical barriers that typically inhibit most of us from really engaging in this kind of hospitality.

It is now the middle of the year. Last week marked the completion of the “inviting posture”, where I began learning the fundamental importance of simply being present with people. Today is the beginning of the “Contending Posture” where we will be identifying and confronting issues of injustice, contending for peace and wholeness in people’s lives, and pursuing holiness together. We will spend time studying the prophetic literature in the Bible and continue reading other texts with a focus on contending.

If you are able, please continue praying for me during these upcoming months. I have reached a time of the year when I am struggling to stay focused, resulting in a lack of motivation to continue seeking as I should.

Thank you so much, for everything…

With Love,
Adrienne